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Fadi
Lieutenant Commander
Australia
84 Posts |
 Posted - 07 Jul 2009 : 04:10:35
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Ok forum members; how would you like to participate in the following question?
What is the difference between a good Muslim and a good Christian?
I have answered it in one sentence comprising of six words. Please feel free to answer it as you see fit.
Fadi.
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If it is not truthful and not helpful, don’t say it. If it is truthful and not helpful, don’t say it. If it is not truthful and helpful, don’t say it. If it is truthful and helpful, wait for the right time.
Pride is concerned with who is right.
Humility is concerned with what is right.
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Fadi
Lieutenant Commander
Australia
84 Posts |
Posted - 07 Jul 2009 : 22:57:04
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Ok people, it seems that all have given up their right to put forward an opinion. Since I don’t particularly like slow forums (they remind me of slow computers), I shall answer it myself.
The answer is: It’s up to God to judge.
Now that wasn’t hard was it? Ok, so I’ve answered it with seven words instead of six; at least I had a go. I know that my tone is slightly provocative; but it’s only a healthy type of provocation that will hopefully get some motivation going on around here.
Fadi.
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If it is not truthful and not helpful, don’t say it. If it is truthful and not helpful, don’t say it. If it is not truthful and helpful, don’t say it. If it is truthful and helpful, wait for the right time.
Pride is concerned with who is right.
Humility is concerned with what is right.
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kevtherev
Forum Admin
Australia
354 Posts |
Posted - 08 Jul 2009 : 18:16:59
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I think most Christians dont really know a lot about the muslim faith, and probably felt a bit intimidated by the question, however your answer is right, as most Christians dont even know what makes a good muslim or the practises of islam, I think equally it would be a problem for most Muslims to answer the question without fully knowing the faith of the Christian.
I do like to be challenged in my faith as blind faith in itself is not that helpful - I think we all need to know why we beleive the things we believe.
Another reason for less replies is that I have changed around the forums a fair bit and it will take another few weeks for things to settle and the sarch engines to find the latest content - sorry for that - but in the end it will be worth it. |
Thanks from Kev - Forum and Site Admin |
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Fadi
Lieutenant Commander
Australia
84 Posts |
Posted - 09 Jul 2009 : 04:56:19
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Thank you for your answer Kev, and thank you for all the time you’re putting into making this whole forum better; it’s much appreciated indeed.
I can really understand that some non muslims may be intimidated by a religion that they don’t know about or understand. Or even worse, hear only negative things about by a variety of media outlets as well as their friends. It's a normal human survival instinct where we are always wary and suspicious of what is not familiar to us. This unfortunate situation though, does absolutely nothing to bring these two largest world faiths together. On the contrary, it just serves to widen the gap, whilst atheism, materialism, and hedonism is marching on in our educational system and society as a whole; from primary school, and all the way up to our universities and beyond.
Having said that, my question was carefully presented as to exclude any knowledge of one another's faith. A muslim (like myself), who knows his religion well enough, knows not to judge his fellow human being's belief but rather their conduct. So it's the behaviour that I’m judging and not the person's faith. No one knows what is inside the hearts of men except the Creator of men. As Jesus (pbuh) said in the Bible: “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves. You will recognise them by their fruits."(Matthew 7:15-16).
No doubt, muslims and Christians have their differences in belief. However, my experiences in learning about Christianity and interacting with born again Christians have I believe, served me right in understanding the other’s point of view as well as his or her point of difference. I was blessed to have belonged to muslim parents who were not really practicing Islam; I’ve never been one to follow blindly.
Becoming agnostic, and from there going on a search for God in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, has giving me great appreciation as to why the other non Islamic faiths believe what they do.
So again I must say, upon finishing (one never really finishes) my studies of the Bible, the Qur’an, and some traditional Jewish writings such as the twenty-four books of Talmud, which are something equivalent to the muslim’s hadiths (sayings of prophet Muhammad), my first ever real introduction to the Christian faith was made through a Pentecostal Born Again Christian. Let me tell you, this gentleman was NOT hard to find; he was my next door neighbour and my friend: Richard. (I wonder if he’s reading this, I sincerely hope he is). If you are, I love you Richard. We never spoke about religion until I actually began to believe in God’s existence. In fact I never spoke to anyone; neither did I allow anyone to speak to me about religion. To me, religious people were the ones who kept me away from God through their hypocritical actions. In other words I was judging the Ferrari by its terrible driver instead of looking at the magnificent car that the Ferrari is...
I’m bringing up my four daughters to fully know and understand Islam, proper Islam that is, and not some extremist or fanatical view of it. As you can see from my signature, this is a verse that speaks volume about being non judgmental and about building bridges between muslims and non muslims.
Muslims all over, need to read the bible. In fact, we are commanded to ask for proof from the Jews and Christians. A verse in the Qur’an reads: “They say: 'None shall enter Paradise unless he be a Jew or a Christian.' Those are their (vain) desires. Say: 'Produce your proof if you are truthful.' Qur’an 2:111. It presupposes that when the proof is produced; it would be examined as to that which entitles the Jew and Christian a ticket to heaven whilst at the same time depriving the muslim from the same.
If I’m coming across as “my book is better than yours or my religion is superior or anything of that nature; than I apologise. Had my intention been to bash Christianity or its blue print, I would not have come over to this forum. There are plenty of muslims and Christians slugging it out on the net, with both communities being far from Christianity and Islam as can possibly be (in my opinion). I think we should all learn from that. Their “I’ve proved you wrong” attitude of dealing with their counterparts, serves nothing in my opinion except to breed hatred and build enmity between the two sides. Arrogance is served by the ton on both sides. I’m all for humility in everyway we interact with our fellow human beings. God does not like the arrogant and the boastful; I'm very confident of that.
Peace,
Fadi.
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If it is not truthful and not helpful, don’t say it. If it is truthful and not helpful, don’t say it. If it is not truthful and helpful, don’t say it. If it is truthful and helpful, wait for the right time.
Pride is concerned with who is right.
Humility is concerned with what is right.
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A Muslim and a Christian
